This invention relates to a new energy absorbing member which is particularly applicable for protection and is especially suitable for incorporation into garments or apparel worn by people who need their body parts protected against impact. The protective member can also be mounted on an object such as a door frame or wall edge which a person might accidentally come into contact with.
The protective member of the invention is particularly applicable for use in the medical field, by sportsmen, motor cyclists, urban street wear (cycling/rollerblading), work wear, body armour, riot police gear, oil riggers gear or film crews etc. as well as many other applications such as in crash barriers or as an energy absorbing wall or floor covering.
One established way of absorbing and/or spreading impact energy is to make a pad out of an energy absorbing material. Such pads are generally made of foam and are either worn by the person who needs protection or attached to the part of the fixture likely to be impacted. Static pads can be flexible or rigid as they do not need to bend in use. In some applications, a rigid pad is worn by the wearer. For instance, as a shin pad in the case of a rugby or soccer player or a forearm pad in the case of a cricketer as neither of these limb parts need to bend or articulate in use. However, where a joint needs to be protected, a high degree of flexibility is required so the protective pads need to be made of a flexible material to give the wearer the required level of mobility to make the pad comfortable to wear.
Body impact protection currently available is limited because it is either based on a rigid exterior shell (for example as used as roller blade pads) or upon some form of foam laminate (as used in ski pant inserts). However, foam laminates provide poor levels of protection and rigid shells are uncomfortable to wear.
A protective member is known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,138,722 in which an energy absorbing material is contained in an envelope, the material remaining soft and flexible until it is subjected to an impact when its characteristics change rendering it temporarily rigid. The shape of the envelope however is not very efficient at absorbing and quickly dissipating the impact energy.